The Labor enquirer., 1887-10-08
So also 81 that which

follows.
Since as we have just seen :
government is utterly incapable In
itself of possessing any rights to
be invaded, and utterly incapable
of suffering any wrong, its des-
truction cannot involve any crimi-
nality, unless by that destruction
some injury is done to an individ-
ual. And even in this case the
criminality is against the individ-
ual and not against the govern
ment, and since the actual des-
truction of a government involves
no criminality an executed con-
spiracy to destroy it cannot Of
course involve any criminality.
In order to involve any criminal
ity conspiracy must of necessity
be against the life, liberty, pursuit
of happiness, good name, prop
erty or some of the other inalien-
able rights of an individual.
In an absolute monarchy or
despotism the government con-
sists of a single individual. Like
every other person this individual
possesses an inalienable right to
an Individual existence. AS a
monarch, however, or government,
he has no right at all to an exist
ence. As such he has no claim
even to the privilege of his exist
ing. The privileges entirely that
of the people. 1t is their privi-
lege to have him so exist for the
protection of their inalienable
rights. He must be their servant
however and not their master. II
as government, as servant, he
fails to secure these rights, and
especially if he becomes destruct-
i've, of these rights, then it becomes
not only the right but the duty Of
the people to depose him leaving
him his inalienable right to exist
as an individual. And so of the
republic in which the government
is vested in a combination of two
or more individuals called a coun-
Gil, congress, etc. In itself such
combination has no right to exist.
1t is simply the privilege of the
people to have it exist for their
common benefit, and it is their
right to abolish it whenever in
their judgment its existence has
ceased to be for their common
benefit. From all of this it is
clear that all proper government
begins and ends in the protection
of the rights of individuals.
And now letting these rights
suffice for government in general
let us notice more particularly ouI
own government, which is simply
a vast combination of individuals
ostensibly for mutual protection
and benefit.
Since the mere act or ceremony
of combining or organizing cannot
possibly create "all out of moth
ing" right that had never before
existed, the combination cannot
possibly involve any rights except
those of the individuals who COM
pose it. 1t cannot then possibly
have a right to perform an act
which would be a crime if per.
formed by an individual. A mo-
ment's thought will make the
truth of this assertion clearly ap
pear. All intelligent persons will
admit that an act which is crimi.
nal when committed by single
individual. is bound to be equally
criminal when committed by four
six, sixty, sixty thousand or sixty
million individuals. Each indi-
vidual's right to commit the act
being naught, we have as the
right of sixty millions to commit
it, sixty million times naught. and
this as every school boy knows is
equal to naught. A criminal act
then cannot become any the less
criminal by the increasing Of the
number of those engaged in COM
mitting it; nor can the act be rem